Ball-point pen



C. AN DON OV BALL-POINT PEN Oct. 5, 1954 Filed Aug. 4, 1952 $25-1 J2 2mg-4 Z'M A Patented Get. 5, 1954 i'i'ED STATES-PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic writing instruments, andparticularly to the so-called multicolored writing instrument which iscapable of writing in any one of four different colors. This inventionis particularly concerned `with the adaptation of the well knownball-point pen into a writing instrument which will allow vthe selecteduse of any one of four different colors of ball-point ink.

There is to my knowledge no automatic ballpoint pen on the market todaywhich does not suffer at least one of several of the common defectsattributable to this type of Writing instrument as known in the priorart. In the first place the prior art devices now in use contain apropelrepel mechanism which causes the ball-point unit to extend fromthe opening in the end of the instrument at an angle to the axis of theinstrument. This causes an awkward feel to be had by the personutilizing the instrument and is generally objected to by the user.

ln the second place the prior art instruments require the use of theoperators fingernails or fingertips in the manipulation of theinstrument. This is a very significant disadvantage, especially since alarge percentage of the prospective users of such an instrument havelittle manual dexterity and hence require an instrument which can beeasily manipulated without the use of the ngernails.

In the third place the prior art constructions almost universally1contain projections which stand out from the general body of the writinginstrument and tend to catch on clothing, thereby injuring it, ortending to be broken when the instrument is dropped or otherwisemishandled.

In the fourth place most of the prior art instruments have no provisionfor the prevention of turning of the instrument in the writers hand, afeature which is very desirable and has long been recognized in thefountain pen art by the off-center placement of the nib.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a writinginstrument which has none of the foregoing defects and disadvantages.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novelball-point pen which provides a selection of four colors.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of aball-point writing instrument which is easily manually manpulatable bymeans of a large, easily actuated, knob at the upper end thereof. 4

Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of amulti-color writing instrument utilizing ball-point pen inserts in whichthe insert projects from the instrument parallel to the axis thereof.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel'ball-point pen in which the ball-point writing portion projects fromthe instrument at a point parallel to but offset from the axis of theinstrument so that the writing instrument tends to be self-centering inthe writers hand.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel,efficient and extremely simple multi-color ball-point pen having apractically fool-proof construction.

Still other objects and features of the present invention will appear tothose skilled in the art from the following description of the drawingswherein a preferred embodiment of my invention is disclosed.

ln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of my novel writing instrument;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of my ball-point pen as shown in Figure l;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the writing instrumentin operative position as taken along the lines lll-III of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional View of the writing instrument shown inposition immediately prior to changing colors and taken along the linesIII-III of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines V-V of Figure3; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional View taken along lines VI--VI of Figure 3.

As may be seen in Figures l and 2 the writing instrument of the presentinvention utilizes a tubular housing generally indicated at i, a'capgenerally indicated at 2, a generally conical but offset tip generallyindicated at 3 and a ball-point pen insert 4. It is contemplated thatthe housing I and the tip 3 be integral or securely affixed to eachother by welding, gluing or other similar fastening techniques whichwill vary depending upon the material utilized in these parts.

The writing instrument as shown in Figure 3 is in the operativeposition. As therein disclosed a plurality of ball-point pen inserts ilare mounted in bores 5 in the rotatable core member 6. The core member Eis mounted for rotation about the pivot bolt 8 which is threaded intothe tip 3. The rotatable member S has a central bore therein extendingfrom the right hand end of the member 6 to the abutment at the left handend upon which the screw pivot member 8 seats.

A connecting pin I6 having a round head I I at the left hand end thereofis rotatably and slidably carried in the central bore. A polygonalclutch portion is formed at the left hand end of the pin III as shown atI2 and is constructed to mate with a polygonal bore I3 of the clutchmember Ill which is press tted into xed position in the central bore atits left hand end. A spring I5 is provided between the member II and themember Ill to bias the pin I in the left hand direction as shown inFigure 3. It should be noted that the polygonal portion I2 of the pinIll extends along the pin I9 a distance which is only slightly greaterthan the completely compacted length of the spring I5. The reason forthis will be discussed later. The pin member I is embedded in the capmember 2 by means of threads IG although other suitable fastening meanssuch as soldering, gluing, etc. may be utilized if desired.

The members l are biased into the right hand direction by means ofsprings Il which coact with lugs I8 formed on the exterior of theballpoint members 4.

As may be seen from Figure 6, the cap member 2 has three bores IStherein for the reception of the three ball-point members i not inoperation.

It desirable it is contemplated that an indicator device be provided at2B. This device comprises a Window 2G in the outer shell of the housingI Colors may then be painted upon the member at four pointscorresponding to the colors of the ball-point pen inserts utilized. Afurther operating indicator 2l is shown in Figure l and comprises adiamond or other similar indicia with part of the indicia on the housingI and part on the cap member 2.

In operation the instrument is in a condition shown in Figure 3. Asshown there, one of the members it is in position extending through theaperture 3a of tip portion 3 against the action of the spring I'I. Asmay be readily understood, the spring I5 is of greater force than thespring I? therefore maintaining the cap member 2 against the right handend of the housing I Y and the operative member l in extended position.In this position the right hand end of the member L3 which is in use isforced through the aperture 3a in the tip by means of the cap 2 whichhas presented a blind face to the operative 'l member Il. The remainingthree ball-point units are prevented from passing through the tip 3since they are not aligned with the single aperture 3o therethrough. Theright hand ends of the members I therefore protrude beyond the righthand end of the housing I. The cap 2 is provided with three bores ISwhich accept the excess length of the members I in operative position.

When it is desired to change colors the cap 2 is pulled to the right asfar as it will go. This action pulls the polygonal member I 2 to theright until it engages the polygonal section I3. At this point the righthand ends of the inoperative members Il will have been cleared by thecap member as shown in Figure 4. The springs I1 will have forced allfour of the members 4 to their far right hand positions.

With the parts in this position the cap 2 is rotated, turning the member5 by means of the polygonal clutch members I2 and I3 to a position inwhich some one of the remaining three colors is aligned with theaperture 3a through the tip member 3. The cap member 2 is then allowedto move to the left a slight amount sufficient to disengage the membersI2 and I3 but not to engage the right hand ends of the member 4 in theleft hand ends of the bores I9 of the cap. In this position the cap 2may be rotated Without aiecting the position of the member 6. The cap 2is then rotated until the alignment members 2I are opposite each otherat which point the cap member 2 is released and allowed to move to itsextreme left hand position under the influence of spring I5. Thisrotation of the cap member 2 Without rotation of the member G isnecessary in order that the blind portion of the cap member 2 beopposite the aperture 3a so that when the cap is released the member dwhich is opposite the aperture 3a will be forced through the apertureinto an operative position.

Assembly of the Writing instrument is accomplished by inserting themember 6 in the hollow housing I and fastening it therein by means ofthe pivot screw 8 which is preferably slotted for screw driver or socketwrench. The members are then inserted in the bores 5 with the spring I'Itherearound. The member I6 with its head II is then positioned in thecentral bore and the spring l5 positioned therea-bout. With the parts inthis position the member I 4 with its internal clutching polygonalmember section I3 is press fitted into the central bore 9 thuspositively maintaining the member I3 with its head SI inside the centralbore. In order to place the cap upon the end of the pin I0 the pin I0 isforcibly pulled to its far right hand position. At this position thethreaded end of the pin I0 extends some distance beyond the right handend of the inoperative pen members l and the cap member may thereforeeasily be turned down on the threaded end of the pin I. The pin ID maybe maintained in a relatively secure position during this turning bykeeping the clutch members I2 and I3 in engagement and preventing therotation of the member 5 by holding on to the four members 6.1. The cap2 is rotated down on the pin It' until it bottoms thus giving a look twith the cap member in a proper adjustment. It is thus apparent that inorder to change inserts or put in replacement or refill ball-point penunits it is only necessary to pull the cap member 2 to the extreme righthand position and then rotate it in the counterclockwise direction whileholding the members 4 against rotation. This will unscrew the cap 2 fromthe pin I9 and permit the members 4 to easily be removed.

t will thus be seen from the above disclosure that I have provided anovel multi-color ballpoint pen Writing instrument which is extremelysimple, has a minimum number of parts, and is readily operated withoutthe use of the fingernail of the Writer.

It Will be understood that modifications and variations may be eiTectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A multi-color Writing instrument comprising a housing having agenerally conical tip with an offset aperture therein for the passage ofa selected writing unit, a member positioned within said housing androtatable about the longitudinal axis thereof, said member having aplurality of bores therein eccentric to the axis thereof and adapted tobe selectively aligned with said offset aperture, writing means in eachof said bores, and cap means pivotally supported by said rotatablemember and selectively clutchable thereto for rotating said member toalign a selected bore with said oiset aperture, said cap beingdeclutchable therefrom to be rotatable relative thereto and slidablerelative to said member and having a plurality of blind bores thereinfor accommodation of writing units not in use and abutment means thereonfor cooperation with the writing unit selected for use to position saidwriting unit through said aperture into operative position.

2. A multi-color writing instrument comprising a housing having anaperture therethrough offset from the longitudinal axis thereof for thepassage of a selected writing unit, means for supporting a plurality ofwriting units therein, a cap rotatably and slidably secured to saidmeans and clutchable thereto upon sliding movement whereby said meansmay be rotated to align a selected writing unit with said aperture, saidcap being reciprocable to an unclutched position and rotatable to aposition in which propelling means thereon faces said selected writingunit and said cap being further reciprocable into a compacted positionadjacent said housing where rotation of said cap relative to saidhousing is prevented and said selected Writing unit is placed inoperative position.

3. A writing instrument comprising a housing, a member rotatably mountedwithin said housing and having eccentrically positioned bores, saidhousing having an aperture therein offset from the longitudinal axisthereof and alignable with a selected one of said bores, a Writing unitin each of said bores, actuating means for said writing units, saidactuating means comprising a cap member reciprocably and rotatablymounted on said member, said cap member having eccentric blind boresalong the longitudinal axis thereof for cooperation with said writingunits when said cap member is moved into proximity with said houring andabutment means in said cap for coopera tion with the selected writingunit for recip rocating it through said aperture, selected clutch meanson said cap and said member for providing simultaneous rotationtherebetween, said cap beiniT reciprocable away from said housing into aposition in which it is clutched to said member for rotating saidmember, reciprocable to an unclutched intermediate position where thecap may be rotated independently of said member and positioned so thatsaid abutment is aligned with the selected writing unit and theaperture, and reciprocable to a third position in proximity to saidhousing in which said selected Writing unit is forced by said abutmentthrough said aperture into operative position and the remaining writingunits are positioned in said blind bores in said cap thereby lockingsaid cap against rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 641,230 Rice et al Jan. 9, 1900 876,223 Newman et al Jan. 7,1908 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 378,187 Germany July 6, 1923

